The ideal engine would be free,
make egregious power, be anvileasy
to work on, look better than
any other, and have a legacy that
leaves onlookers in awe. By those
measures, what's the greatest V8 of all time?
We asked readers that very question, and
about 2,000 participated in a poll, ranking
30 engine families on a scale of 1 to 5 in
each category. We tallied up the results and
hereby present the top 20 for what will likely
be to your vehement objections.
Are the results perfect? Nope. Most notably,
the scoring categories of Affordable to
Build Today and Performance Potential
knocked some sentimental favorites way
down the list. Spoiler alert: Flathead Fords
ranked 10th place. Vintage Cadillac V8s--a
retro hot rodder's go-to--didn't make the
list at all. But--shocker--neither did today's
ubiquitous Ford modular V8 (despite
the baddest-ever 650hp variant in the '13
GT500, the modular family as a whole was
voted too expensive, hard to work on, and
ugly). Other also-rans were AMC engines,
Cadillac Northstars, Ford Y-blocks, Chrysler
New Hemis, and Dodge and DeSoto vintage
Hemis. We didn't even bother to add non-
American engines to the poll, nor did we
rank fuel efficiency because, in both cases,
who cares?
Each engine was ranked on a scale of 1 to
5 in five different categories, with 5 being the
best and 1 the worst. Te highest potential
score for the perfect engine is 25 points.
We've included the ratings in each category
as well as the overall score for
each engine. It's an interesting
way to kick the can around--
and, most winningly for us,
you have only the HOT
ROD readers to blame if
you don't like the answers.
Have at it.

20. '61 TO '80 BOP GENERAL MOTORS V8 215, 300, 340, AND 350 CI

BOP stands for Buick-Olds-Pontiac. General
Motors originally developed the all-aluminum
V8 to power its advanced line of
compact sedans for 1961: the Buick Special/
Skylark, Olds F-85/Cutlass, and Pontiac
Tempest. ffat path hit a dead end in 1963,
but the engine lived on and on, evolving
into the cast-iron 300, 340, and 350 V8s
that powered Buick fullsize cars until 1980.
Rover of Great Britain also obtained rights
to Buick version in 1966, and, incredibly,
mass-produced it until 2005. Today, the
lightweight 215s remain swapworthy for
sports cars (notably MGs), Vegas, and ffiatfender
Jeeps.

Acme:

Jack Brabham won the Formula 1
world title in 1966 with a Repco-modified
BOP V8, the only American engine to
accomplish that feat.

Performance Potential: ***

Historic Significance: ***1/2

Looks Cool: ***

Affordability To Build Today: **1/2

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 15.46

2/21Here’s an aluminum 215 in a ’61 Buick
Special as shot for the Aug. ’60 issue of
Motor Trend. The Olds version had different
heads and valvetrain—and six head bolts per
cylinder rather than five—and was used in
Pontiacs as well. Today, one specialist in the
Buick/Olds/Rover engine is D&D Fabrications
at AluminumV8.com

19. '68 TO '84 CADILLAC THIRD-GEN V8
368, 425, 472, AND 500 CI

When a redesigned Cadillac V8 arrived in 1968, it was America's largest production V8 at
472 ci, but it went largely overlooked by rodders, as GM, Ford, and Chrysler all offered big
V8s with greater performance potential. The big Caddy wouldn't catch on until years later
when budget-minded builders spotted the big-inchers abandoned in junkyards. As the age of
the Detroit dinosaurs declined, so did the displacement of the Caddy V8, from 500 ci in 1970
to 368 ci in 1984. ffere was even an 8-6-4 version with a primitive form of displacement-on-demand,
a notorious Cadillac fail.

Acme:

Not content with a mere 500 ci, in the late '60s Cadillac was planning a V16 version
of the engine for the car that eventually became the Eldorado. Alas, cooler heads prevailed.
In production, the '70 500-incher produced an advertised 400 hp and 550 lb-ft, the highest
torque rating of any American passenger car V8 for years to come. The 500 remains the
largest-displacement, production-line, passenger-car V8.

Performance Potential: ***1/2

Historic Significance: ***1/2

Looks Cool: ***1/2

Affordability To Build Today: ***1/2

Easy To Work On: ***

Score: 15.63

3/21Spectre Performance has recently been
setting streamliner land speed records in
the 350-mph range (with one run over 400)
using turbo Cadillac engines with stock cast
cranks in engines built by Cad Company
(Cad500Parts.com). Another very famous
car to run a Cad 500 is shown here during the
buildup in March 1989. Can you guess the
car? It’s CadZZilla, Billy Gibbons’ custom-car
masterpiece.

18. '49 TO '64 OLDSMOBILE ROCKET
303, 324, 371, AND 394 CI

Along with the Cadillac V8 introduced the same year, GM launched the high-compression
Olds Rocket V8 in 1949 to take advantage of the high-octane-fuel refining technology
developed in WWII. In 1957, the notorious J-2 version with 370 ci, three vacuum-operated,
two-barrel carbs, and 312 hp was introduced. The engine became a hot rodding standard.

Acme:

California racer Gene Adams was the master of the original Olds V8, first with his
own B/Gas '50 fastback sedan and then with the Albertson Olds dragster, one of the more
dominant cars of the NHRA nitro ban era, with drivers Leonard Harris and Tom McEwen.

Performance Potential: ***1/2

Historic Significance: ***1/2

Looks Cool: ***1/2

Affordability To Build Today: **1/2

Easy To Work On: ***

Score: 15.93

4/21The Rocket was a Gasser-wars legend—and
factory performance included the three-carb, ’57
to ’58 J-2 Golden Rocket—but we often think of it
as a ’50s show-car engine. Here’s one at the ’61
Winternationals car show in Los Angeles.

17. '53 TO '66 BUICK NAILHEAD
264, 322, 364, 401, AND 425 CI

Nailhead was never an official factory designation for the first-gen Buick V8, but it stuck
like one. Instantly recognizable by its vertically oriented valve covers, the nail' was a hit
with engine swappers, offering plenty of cubes in a relatively light and narrow package.
Output was ultimately limited by the aforesaid dinky valves and an unusual valvetrain
arrangement, but that didn't keep Buick stalwarts like TV Tommy Ivo and road racer
Max Balchowsky out of the winner's circle.

Acme:

Ivo installed four nailhead Buicks in his Showboat dragster (driving all four
wheels) and created one of the wildest exhibition cars ever.

Performance Potential: ***1/2

Historic Significance: ****

Looks Cool: ****

Affordability To Build Today: **1/2

Easy To Work On: ***

Score: 16.61

5/21Tommy Ivo and Max Balchowski conspired on
this one, the mill in TV’s T-bucket. The Hilborn injected
version appeared on HOT ROD’s Aug. ’57
cover. Ivo’s T ran 11s, and his Buick love carried
on to his famed dragsters, including the four engine
Showboat dragster. See TommyIvo.com.

The Olds V8 was thoroughly updated for 1965, receiving the latest
thin-wall casting techniques and saddle-style rocker arms. The Olds
was used by every GM division apart from Chevrolet during the
General's corporate V8 period, with a 403ci model powering the
Pontiac Trans Am at one point, while an emissions-happy 307ci version
remained in production through 1990.

Acme:

In the late '60s, a back-door project through Olds engineering
in Lansing produced a twin-turbo 455 V8 for the Can-Am series,
but the combination was never developed to its full potential. In production,
the 455 used in '70 4-4-2 W-30 cars had 10.5:1 compression
and the best rated output of 370 hp and 500 lb-ft, as vaunted in
advertising by the fictional Dr. Oldsmobile and his harried cast of
characters

Performance Potential: ****

Historic Significance: ***1/2

Looks Cool: ***1/2

Affordability To Build Today: **1/2

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 16.80

6/21This
is the rare,
experimental hemi
Olds 455 from 1971.
In the ’60s and early
’70s, Oldsmobile had several
models of two- and four-valve,
hemi-headed engines for racing,
but this Quadrajet-inducted one was
intended for the street.

15. '64 TO '03 CHRYSLER
LA SERIES
273, 340, AND 360 CI

Loosely based on the earlier A-series V8
(LA stands for light A in Mopar lore),
the LA V8 displaced 273 ci when it first
appeared in 1964. Larger versions of 318,
340, and 360 ci soon followed, and it
was used in everything from trucks, vans,
motorhomes, and cars, and found in Chryslers,
Dodges, and Plymouths. The LA is one
of the longer-lived American V8s, surviving
into the 21st century as the somewhat
revised 5.2L and 5.9L Magnum V8s.

Acme:

Introduced in 1968, the 340ci Mopar V8 always punched above its weight. Definitely
underrated at 275 hp and offering
near–muscle car performance in a smallblock
package, it was wildly popular among
street/strip enthusiasts—and still is, thanks
in part to the largest bore of the series (4.04
compared with 4.00 in the 360). In factory
trim, the 290hp '70 AAR 'Cuda and Challenger
T/A six-barrel cars carry the most
prized 340s.

Performance Potential: ****

Historic Significance: ***1/2

Looks Cool: ***1/2

Affordability To Build Today: ***

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 17.09

7/21While 340-powered Dusters were all over
NHRA Stock ranks at the time, HOT ROD’s
John Dianna built an E/Modified Production
car—with a destroked 305-incher—that
appeared on the Dec. ’71 cover with a
buildup in the Jan. ’72 issue.

14. '67 TO '76 BUICK BIG V8
400, 430, AND 455 CI

The big Buick V8 first appeared in 1967
as the successor to the nailhead in the division's
fullsize lineup. A belt-and-suspenders
design tagged as a torquer, not a revver,
the big-boned Buick used in fullsize cars
showed no performance potential whatsoever
until the 455ci Stage I and Stage II
muscle car versions arrived in A-body (Skylark)
packages in the early '70s, surprising
everyone. The Buick 455 has proven to be a
solid rival to the Mopar 426 Hemi in match
races that began in the '80s and continue
today.

Acme:

The 455 Stage 1 was a winner in
NHRA Stock Eliminator, as Dave Benisek
collected numerous race wins and an NHRA
Championship, and the engine continues to
be an overachiever today in vintage muscle
car drag racing.

Performance Potential: ****

Historic Significance: ***1/2

Looks Cool: ***1/2

Affordability To Build Today: **1/2

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 17.46

8/21The baddest of the big Buicks is the 455. Here’s one in a ’70 GSX, one of 678 made. These are
famed for big torque and are known to run with the Mopar Hemis.

13. '68 TO '97 FORD 385
SERIES
370, 429, AND 460 CI

A short-skirt, thin-wall design, Ford's 385
V8 moved in to replace the FE and MEL
engine families in 1968. Fullsize Ford, Mercury,
and Lincoln land yachts used the 460ci
version all through the '70s, and in trucks
and vans until 1997, so cores are still relatively
plentiful. Underappreciated, the 429
and 460 Fords can be easily stroked to 514 ci
and make easy, cheap, big power.

Acme:

The Boss 429, an exotic hemi-headed design based on the 385's architecture, powered a handful of '69 and '70 Mustangs and served as Ford's big-block warrior in
NASCAR and drag racing.

Performance Potential: ****1/2

Historic Significance: ***1/2

Looks Cool: ***1/2

Affordability To Build Today: ***

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 17.66

9/21We think the big Ford is one of the most underrated engines out there for power and
affordability. This one’s a basic street 514 with Edelbrock heads

Just as the original small-block Chevy V8
revolutionized the American performance
scene in 1955, its replacement, the LS
series, turned everything upside down
again. In 1997, it was possible to believe
that the traditional American V8 had
reached the limit of its potential. Possible,
but completely wrong—the
LS redefined the state of the art for
pushrod engines and has proven to
be the aftermarket's most cherished
modern V8.

Acme:

LS-powered Corvettes
have won their class at the 24
Hours of Le Mans seven times
since 2000. In factory trim, the top
of the heap is the 6.2L LS9 powering
the latest Corvette ZR1s, using a supercharger
to deliver 638 hp and 604 lb-ft.

Performance Potential: ****1/2

Historic Significance: ***1/2

Looks Cool: ***

Affordability To Build Today: ***1/2

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 17.82

10/21The LS engines have blown everyone away with their ease of power production. This one’s
the top of the heap in bone-stock factory trim, an LS9 that’s blown and intercooled to make an
advertised 638 hp at 6,500 rpm and 604 lb-ft at 3,800. They are available as a crate engine
under PN 19201990.

11. '70 TO '82 FORD 335 SERIES
302, 351, AND 400 CI

Ford's 335 engine family shares its bore spacing and head-bolt pattern
with the Windsor V8, but the similarities pretty much end there.
One key difference: The Cleveland V8, as the engine is also known,
employs canted valve heads. Production of the original, most coveted
Cleveland engine ended in 1974, but two far less popular variants, the
351M and the 400, continued into 1982. There was also a 302ci version
manufactured in Australia that is seldom seen here.

Acme:

A 335 Ford V8 powered one of the most successful Pro Stock cars ever, Bob Glidden's '78 Fairmont. Debuting at a points meet on
July 8, 1978, the Fairmont proceeded to take 25 consecutive round
wins, scoring four national event victories and a third NHRA Pro
Stock title for Glidden, the undisputed wizard of the Cleveland V8.

Performance Potential: ****

Historic Significance: ***1/2

Looks Cool: ***1/2

Affordability To Build Today: ***

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 17.86

11/21Ford went
to the Cleveland
engine in Mustang
Mach 1s in 1970,
but our favorite was
the ’71 Boss 351, a oneyear-
only deal. According to
Boss351Registry.com, only
1,806 of the cars were made.
Even with 11.5:1 compression
and huge heads, they were
rated at 330 hp—but clearly
capable of far more.

10. '32 TO '53 FORD
FLATHEAD
221, 239, AND 255 CI

John Lennon once said, "If you wanted to
give rock and roll another name, you might
call it 'Chuck Berry.'" In a similar vein,
another name for hot rodding might be
"Ford flathead V8." Henry Ford's remarkable
L-head 8 is the cornerstone of the American
performance scene and the foundation for
all that has followed. Flathead experts like
to differentiate the '32 to '37 engines with
21 head studs per bank from the '38 to '53
units, which use 24 studs
Also, the twin water pumps were located
in the cylinder heads through '36, while
from '37 onward they were mounted in
the block. Know your Flatmotor lore. How
could the legendary flathead rank as low as
10 on the list? Because by today's standards,
it doesn't make any power-but at least it's
expensive to build.

Acme:

Arguably, the most outrageous Flatmotor
to date is Ron Main's Flatfire project
(a forerunner to the Speed Demon seen on
page 44). Claiming 653 hp from a 301ci
flathead V8 demon-tweaked to within an
inch of its life by Dick Landy Industries, the
Flatfire streamliner has fallen just shy of 300
mph at Bonneville.

Performance Potential: ***

Historic Significance: ****1/2

Looks Cool: ****1/2

Affordability To Build Today: **1/2

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 18.30

12/21The Flathead Ford was where V8s started
for hot rodding, though they were virtually
obsolete by the late ’50s, overcome in
performance by the overhead-valve engines
from Cadillac, Olds, Chevy—and of course
by the Hemis. Even so, no engine remains
as iconic, and there are probably more
being built today than ever. This one, with
its reproduction S.Co.T. blower, is by H&H
Flatheads (Flatheads-Forever.com)

Ford's classic FE big-block V8 was produced at the Dearborn
Engine Plant at the River Rouge, and in dizzying variety, starting
with the 332ci unit introduced in the '58 Fairlane. Oddball variants
include a 361ci piece for the '58 Edsel and a 410ci version that was
used in fullsize Mercurys for only two model years ('66 and '67).
> The Grand Poobah FE mill was the 427 single-overhead-cam engine
introduced in NASCAR for 1964 and known as the S.O.H.C. (say sock) or
Cammer. This one is seen in an outtake from the Apr. '83 HOT ROD cover
as its being dropped into George "Pops" Boskovich's Van Nuys–cruising
'69 Boss 429 Mustang.
The most famed FE was likely the 427 installed in Carroll Shelby's
Cobra roadsters. A single overhead-cam version of the 427 FE,
replete with a 6-foot timing chain and hemispherical combustion
chambers, was outlawed in NASCAR but became a big winner in
drag racing in the late '60s.

Acme:

FE 427ci V8s powered the Ford GTs that won the 24 Hours
of LeMans in 1966 and 1967.

Performance Potential: ****1/2

Historic Significance: ****

Looks Cool: ****

Affordability To Build Today: ***1/2

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 18.31

13/21The Grand Poobah FE mill was the 427 single-overhead-cam engine
introduced in NASCAR for 1964 and known as the S.O.H.C. (say sock) or
Cammer. This one is seen in an outtake from the Apr. ’83 HOT ROD cover
as its being dropped into George “Pops” Boskovich’s Van Nuys–cruising
’69 Boss 429 Mustang.

The Pontiac might be GM's most versatile V8. It was produced in even more displacements
than those of the small-block Chevy: 14 versus 10. Unlike other manufacturers
that based their engines on multiple platforms of so-called "small-block" and "bigblock"
architectures, all Pontiac V8s were built on the same 4.62-inch bore spacing. The
cars that carried the Poncho mills are what made them famous: the Super Duty drag cars
of the early '60s, the Pontiac GTO, and the Bandit-era Trans Ams.

Acme:

For several years Smokey Yunick's Pontiacs owned Daytona International Speedway, winning the 500 outright in 1961 and 1962.

Performance Potential: ****1/2

Historic Significance: ****

Looks Cool: ***1/2

Affordability To Build Today: ***1/2

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 18.46

14/21This is one of six ’63 Tempest Super
Duty drag cars. First shipped to Mickey
Thompson and raced by Jess Tyree, Arnie
Beswick (shown), converted it to the alteredwheelbase,
nitro-burning Tameless Tiger.

7. '51 TO '58 CHRYSLER HEMI
331, 354, AND 392 CI

You can tell by this month's cover photo where we place our horsepower lust. The original
Hemi was Chrysler's first overhead V8 back in 1951--the name stemming from the hemispheric
(half sphere) shape of the combustion chambers. The trade name was FirePower. After
a few years, drag racers would discover how well the engine ran on nitromethane, and a new
kind of drag racing would spring to life. It's hard to imagine what Top Fuel would be like without
the Chrysler Hemi.

Acme:

On April 4, 1960, at Alton, Illinois, Chris Karamesines was the first to (unofficially)
break the 200-mph barrier, running 8.82 at 204.54 mph with his Hemi-powered Chizler 1 fuel
dragster. If you don't buy that, then you're a believer that Garlits ran the first 200-201.34-at
New Jersey's Island Dragway in August 1964. That was also with a blown Chrysler.

Performance Potential: ****

Historic Significance: ****1/2

Looks Cool: ****1/2

Affordability To Build Today: **1/2

Easy To Work On: ***

Score: 18.65

15/21In late 1971, Ed Donovan introduced a beefed
392 replica, the Donovan 417. HOT ROD said it
was to “replace the 392 and supersede the 426.”
It was on the Feb. ’72 cover with John Wiebe, Don
Prudhomme, Ed Donovan, and Don Garlits.

6. '58 TO '65 CHEVROLET W SERIES
348, 409, AND 427 CI

Chevy's W engine might be no more than a historic footnote today but for three things.
First, there are the memorable valve covers that form a W, sort of. Next, there's that
blankety-blank song, 409, by the Beach Boys. Once it gets into your head, it's not coming
out. Finally, the W motor could run, especially the 409/409 version ("oh-nine ohnine"
in the lingo of the day) that ruled the drive-ins in 1962. Four-speed. Dual-quad.
Posi-traction. 409. The lore of the '63 Z11 with 427 ci and 430 hp in a drag-package
Impala didn't hurt, either.

Acme:

Dyno Don Nicholson picked up his famous nickname running a 409-equipped
'61 Impala bubbletop, thrashing the O/SS (Optional Super Stock) field at the U.S.

Performance Potential: ****

Historic Significance: ****1/2

Looks Cool: ****1/2

Affordability To Build Today: **1/2

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 18.82

16/21While Dyno Don Nicholson is often
associated with the legendary dual-quad
409, his history with it was short-lived. He
used a 409 to take the Stock Eliminator win
at the first NHRA Winternationals in ’61, then
repeated at the ’62 event (seen here) before
moving on to Mercurys.

5. '58 TO '77 CHRYSLER B/RB
350, 361, 383, 400, 413, 426, AND 440 CI

Chrysler's entry in the big-block wars first saw combat in 1958 as a 350ci model. Of
course, best known today are the 383ci and 440ci versions, as well as the 426 Max Wedge
engines that established Chrysler as a major player in drag racing's Super Stock ranks. The
Wedge was also famous in one dragster, the Dragmaster Dart that took Top Eliminator
at the '62 NHRA Winternationals. These days, the lowly, smog-era 400 is prized for its
largest-of-the-bunch bore (4.340-inch) and low deck height in a block that can easily be
stroked to 500 inches.

Acme:

In mid-1969, Chrysler sprang the Six Pack package-a 440ci V8 with three twobarrel
Holleys on an Edelbrock manifold, and other choice goodies, for the Dodge Super
Bee. The more popular Plymouth Road Runner version quickly followed. With Hemistyle
performance at half the price, it leaped to the top of the muscle car pile.

Performance Potential: ****1/2

Historic Significance: ****

Looks Cool: ****

Affordability To Build Today: ***

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 19.08

17/21In 1969, Dodge created M-code Darts, built as
383 cars then converted to 440s. Car Craft tested
one in the May ’69 issue. With Hooker headers,
4.30 gears, slicks, a tall pinion snubber, and a
supertune, it ran 13.14 at 108.6 mph.

4. '62 TO '01 FORD 90-DEGREE
221, 255, 260, 289, 302/5.0L,
AND 351 CI

Better known to hot rodders as the Windsor V8, the 90-degree is
Ford's popular small-block offering. The K-code, '63 to '67 High
Performance 289, was the first to make a dent in the performance
world, and the first Shelby Cobras also ran the little Ford mills, first
at 260 ci and then 289. Today the engines are nearly as common as
the small-block Chevy on the street-rod scene, but it was the advent
of the EFI, 5.0L (302) Mustang in 1986 that sprang the small-block
Ford into mass attention. Those cars created a huge marketplace for
performance parts, and Fox Mustangs seem to make up a third of
the field on any given drag weekend.

Acme:

Jimmy Clark nearly stole the '63 Indianapolis 500 in his first
appearance there, driving a Lotus powered by a remarkably stock
255ci Ford V8. Ford would return the next year with a four-cam V8 based on the same short-block.

Performance Potential: ****1/2

Historic Significance: ****

Looks Cool: ***1/2

Affordability To Build Today: ***1/2

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 19.80

18/21The 5.0L Ford Mustangs
were first fuel injected in
1986. They created a market
that continues to go strong
today, with sales eclipsed by
only the small-block Chevy.

3. '64 TO '71 DODGE/PLYMOUTH HEMI
426 CI

Searching for a way to produce more power for NASCAR and
drag racing, Chrysler engineers decided to update the original
Hemi head design and adapt it to the Max Wedge engine's shortblock.
Voilà, the 426 Hemi was born. Arguably the most powerful
production V8 of the muscle car era, the Hemi ruled the roost
until 1971, when emissions and insurance concerns brought the
party to a close. Readers picked the Elephant-the 426-based
Hemi-as the best looking engine with the most historic significance,
and it tied the big-block Chevy for performance potential.
Its ranking on this list was harpooned only by its incredible lack
of affordability and the fact that it just isn't as easy to work on as
the Chevys you'll read about next.

Acme:

The Hemi's defining moment was its 1-2-3 finish in its
debut at the '64 Daytona 500. The most powerful factory offering
was the '65 Super Stock package with a 13.5:1 compression
ratio.

Performance Potential: ****1/2

Historic Significance: ****1/2

Looks Cool: ****1/2

Affordability To Build Today: **1/2

Easy To Work On: ***1/2

Score: 20.06

19/21This Hemi is in the Sox &
Martin Pro Stock Dodge Colt
(unusual for that team not to
have a Plymouth) from 1974,
with a Logghe tube chassis
and Al Berger metalwork.

While the W motors are sometimes called the first big-block Chevrolets, the big-block as we
know it first appeared in 1965 in 396ci form in the Chevy fullsize line, and also in a smattering
of Chevelles and Corvettes that year. Chevy's official name was Mark IV V8, but the
new engine quickly collected numerous aliases, including Porcupine, Rat, semi-hemi, and
simply big-block. For decades now it's been the darling of the go-big-or-go-home crowd.
Readers rated the Rat as having the same performance potential as a 426 Hemi.

Acme:

The BBC's successor, GM Racing's DRCE 3, which shares few parts with the original
but much of the mojo, continues to rule NHRA Pro Stock today. From the productionline
products, the basic, lo-po truck 454 has proven the most popular platform on which to
build for drag racers everywhere.

Performance Potential: ****1/2

Historic Significance: ****1/2

Looks Cool: ****1/2

Affordability To Build Today: ***1/2

Easy To Work On: ****

Score: 21.19

20/21Rat motors have been a dragstrip standard
for so many years that it’s hard to recall that
they really made their reputation in the street
machines of the ’70s and ’80s. When we
decided to build a retro blower motor for HRM’s
Crusher Camaro, we reached for a 454.

We know--you could have guessed it. The
small-block Chevy is hot rodding's universal
soldier, produced in greater numbers, it
is said, than any V8 engine in history and
raced everywhere from Daytona to Indy to
Le Mans. The so-called Mouse is ubiquitous
today, but in 1955 it was revolutionary,
from its upside-down casting process to its
sheetmetal rocker arms. The last production
version rolled off the line in a Chevy van in
2003. That very same engine will probably
be powering a street rod sometime in the
22nd century. The readers ranked the smallblock
Chevy highest overall from affordability
to build, and who could argue?

Acme:

The fastest V8 in the world, featured
on pages 44-50 of this issue, is based
on a small-block Chevy. The top of the
heap for production small-blocks was the
327ci/375hp L84 with Rochester mechanical
fuel injection offered in the '64 and '65
Corvette, though many vaunt the '701.2 LT1
with 350 ci, 11.0:1 compression, 360 hp
(370 in the Corvette), and 380 lb-ft.

Performance Potential: ****1/2

Historic Significance: ****1/2

Looks Cool: ***1/2

Affordability To Build Today: ****1/2

Easy To Work On: ****1/2

Score: 21.97

21/21Of all the zillions of significant small-block
Chevys in the last 57 years, how do you pick
one photo to represent them all? Easy: You
nab an outtake from the photo shoot for the
very first one to ever appear on the cover of
HOT ROD. That was the Jan. ’56 issue, where
Edelbrock flogged a hard-to-get—are you
sitting down?—220 hp from one.

HOT ROD RANKS 'EM

Overall, we thought the results from the readers' poll created a rank order that's pretty
hard to argue with. But, for the sake of that argument, we decided to make staff picks for
the top five engines in each judging category.